The Epic Beautiful: An English Verse Rendering of the Sundara Kanda of the Ramayana of Valmiki

The Sundara Kanda - the bija-kanda or seed-book of the Ramayana of Valmiki - stands by itself as a rounded epic in its own compelling right. Instinct with diverse 'beauties' (like sabdasaundarya and Kavya-saundarya) and all the nine 'Rasas', the work may be viewed as a marvel of a finished epic with an admirable ordering of parts fusing into an effulgent unity, verily a moving relation of events of abiding racial and human interest.

In 'The Epic Beautiful,' Prof. K. R. Srinivasa Iyengar has rendered the complete Sundara Kanda into 2823 unrhymed quatrains divided into 7 Books and 68 Cantos. He has likewise given in verse, as 'Prologue', the traditional account of the genesis of the epic (from the Bala Kanda); and, as 'Epilogue', verse renderings of Aditya Hridayam and 'The Coronation of Rama and Sita' (both from the Yuddha Kanda). These are by tradition meaningful and auspicious ancillaries to the Sundara Kanda.

Professor Iyengar has also contributed a long and scholarly Introduction on the Epic tradition in India, the universality of the appeal of the Ramayana, the centrality and beauty of the 'Sundara Kanda', the fascination it exercises on men, women and children, and on the problem of translating the Ramayana from the original Sanskrit into English. Professor Iyengar's 'Notes and Comments', again, are a help towards the understanding and appreciation of the 'Sundara Kanda' or 'The Epic Beautiful'.

About The Author

M. R. Srinivasa Iyengar (b. 1908), M. A., D. Litt. (Madras), was successively Professor of English at Andhra University (1947-66), its Vice-Chancellor (1966-68), Vice-President (1969-77), and Acting President (1977-78) of Sahitya Akademi. He has served as member of the Press Council of India, the Board of Governors of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study (Simla) and CIEFL (Hyderabad), and the Executive of the P. E. N. All-India Centre. He has participated in several conferences in India and abroad, and has received the D. Litt. Honoris causa from the Andhra and Sri Venkateswara Universities.

Prof. Iyengar is the author of over 30 books covering literary history, criticism, biography and education, and of numerous papers in learned journals. His 2-volume classic, On the Mother, received the Sahitya Akademi award in 1980. he has edited for Sahitya Akademi Guru Nanak: A Homage; Indian Literature Since Independence; and Asian Variations in Ramayana. "I don't know of another man", said Allen Tate, the American poet and critic, of him "who so gracefully combines penetrating literary insight with a sure sense of human values.

Prof. Iyengar's verse publications include Tryst with the Divine, Microcosmographia Poetica, and Leaves from a Log. He has also published English vese translations of Devi Mahatmyam and Atma Bodha from Sanskrit, and selections from Tirumandiram and Tiru-arutpa from Tamil.

Preface

The 'Sundara Kanda'-the seed-book or bija-kanda as it has been called, of the Ramayana of Valmiki-is here presented as an autonomous epic by itself, arranged under Seven Books. The verse form used is a 4-line unit in lieu of the Sanskrit onushtup sloka. I have attempted, however, neither a word-for-word translation, nor always a sloka-stanza correspondence. The span of though often overflows the quatrain mould, thereby softening the metrical monotony.

I am aware that, in the process of translation from Sanskrit into English, the cadence and dhwani are inevitably lost. But I venture to hope that the general narrative drift and flow of meaning are retained, and also that some faint echo at least of the epic drama of Haunman's flight to Lanka, discovery of Sita, and return and report to Rama, come through even in my free and feeble English version.

It is a pleasure to record my gratitude to Sahitya Akademi's President, Prof. Umashankar Joshi, Vice-President, Prof. V. K. Gokak, and Secretary, Dr. R. S. Kelkar, for sponsoring this publication; and Deputy Secretary (Programme), Sri Vishnu Khare, and Programme Officer, Sri Thambi Srinivasan, for Seeing the book through the press. Thanks are, finally, due to Sri S. P. Jain of J. Samanta Machinery Co. for producing this book attractively and in a short time.